Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range
Abstract Describing the habitat needs of endangered species is a major focus of applied conservation research. The blunt‐nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila (Stejneger, 1890)) is a flagship endangered species endemic to the San Joaquin Valley of California, USA. Arthropods are an important component...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Conservation Science and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13288 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841545585669177344 |
|---|---|
| author | Jenna Braun Michael Westphal Marina Goldgisser Kevin Padula Kathryn Ramirez John English Jason Evans Mark Statham Amy Fesnock C. J. Lortie |
| author_facet | Jenna Braun Michael Westphal Marina Goldgisser Kevin Padula Kathryn Ramirez John English Jason Evans Mark Statham Amy Fesnock C. J. Lortie |
| author_sort | Jenna Braun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Describing the habitat needs of endangered species is a major focus of applied conservation research. The blunt‐nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila (Stejneger, 1890)) is a flagship endangered species endemic to the San Joaquin Valley of California, USA. Arthropods are an important component of G. sila's diet and of many other listed vertebrate species in Californian drylands. We examined the drivers of abundance, richness, and composition across the current and extirpated ranges of the blunt‐nosed leopard lizard G. sila for four arthropod communities: ground‐active, shrub‐canopy active, open area active, and aerial. We found no evidence for lower arthropod abundance or species richness at sites from which G. sila has been extirpated. In contrast, the ground‐active arthropod and beetle communities were less abundant at sites with current populations of G. sila after accounting for environmental variation. Thus, prey availability—at least at the community level and for the taxonomic groups considered—would not likely be a factor constraining future repopulation efforts for G. sila into its historical range. Beta‐diversity partitioning analyses indicated that a regional approach to conservation is necessary to conserve arthropod biodiversity across the San Joaquin Valley. Increasing aridity lowered abundance and species richness at fine scales for most communities tested and was also related to spatial composition across the region. Thus, in terms of G. sila conservation and restoration, sites with the lowest current and projected future aridity should be prioritized to maximize the abundance and richness of co‐occurring ground‐active arthropod and beetle communities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-62d10c9dc905436a89e9f18ac9f174b5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2578-4854 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Science and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-62d10c9dc905436a89e9f18ac9f174b52025-01-12T03:57:29ZengWileyConservation Science and Practice2578-48542025-01-0171n/an/a10.1111/csp2.13288Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic rangeJenna Braun0Michael Westphal1Marina Goldgisser2Kevin Padula3Kathryn Ramirez4John English5Jason Evans6Mark Statham7Amy Fesnock8C. J. Lortie9Department of Biology York University Toronto Ontario CanadaBureau of Land Management Central Coast Field Office Marina California USADepartment of Biology York University Toronto Ontario CanadaBureau of Land Management Central Coast Field Office Marina California USADepartment of Biology Cal State Fresno California USADepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario CanadaBureau of Land Management Central Coast Field Office Marina California USAMammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, University of California, One Shields Avenue University of California Davis California USABureau of Land Management Central Coast Field Office Marina California USADepartment of Biology York University Toronto Ontario CanadaAbstract Describing the habitat needs of endangered species is a major focus of applied conservation research. The blunt‐nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila (Stejneger, 1890)) is a flagship endangered species endemic to the San Joaquin Valley of California, USA. Arthropods are an important component of G. sila's diet and of many other listed vertebrate species in Californian drylands. We examined the drivers of abundance, richness, and composition across the current and extirpated ranges of the blunt‐nosed leopard lizard G. sila for four arthropod communities: ground‐active, shrub‐canopy active, open area active, and aerial. We found no evidence for lower arthropod abundance or species richness at sites from which G. sila has been extirpated. In contrast, the ground‐active arthropod and beetle communities were less abundant at sites with current populations of G. sila after accounting for environmental variation. Thus, prey availability—at least at the community level and for the taxonomic groups considered—would not likely be a factor constraining future repopulation efforts for G. sila into its historical range. Beta‐diversity partitioning analyses indicated that a regional approach to conservation is necessary to conserve arthropod biodiversity across the San Joaquin Valley. Increasing aridity lowered abundance and species richness at fine scales for most communities tested and was also related to spatial composition across the region. Thus, in terms of G. sila conservation and restoration, sites with the lowest current and projected future aridity should be prioritized to maximize the abundance and richness of co‐occurring ground‐active arthropod and beetle communities.https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13288aridityarthropodbeta diversitybiodiversitydrylandendangered species |
| spellingShingle | Jenna Braun Michael Westphal Marina Goldgisser Kevin Padula Kathryn Ramirez John English Jason Evans Mark Statham Amy Fesnock C. J. Lortie Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range Conservation Science and Practice aridity arthropod beta diversity biodiversity dryland endangered species |
| title | Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range |
| title_full | Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range |
| title_fullStr | Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range |
| title_short | Environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator Gambelia sila's current and historic range |
| title_sort | environmental drivers of arthropod communities across the endangered predator gambelia sila s current and historic range |
| topic | aridity arthropod beta diversity biodiversity dryland endangered species |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13288 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennabraun environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT michaelwestphal environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT marinagoldgisser environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT kevinpadula environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT kathrynramirez environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT johnenglish environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT jasonevans environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT markstatham environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT amyfesnock environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange AT cjlortie environmentaldriversofarthropodcommunitiesacrosstheendangeredpredatorgambeliasilascurrentandhistoricrange |